It was part of the long tradition of miners’ choirs and colliery bands which became popular among mining communities across the country, for whom making music was a cheap and enjoyable community activity.

In 1916, Britain was in the middle of the First World War, but because coal mining was so vital to the war effort it was listed as a reserved occupation, meaning miners were not required to fight.

So there were plenty of men out of uniform around Ashington in 1916 to fill the new choir, and to sing in the operettas which were frequently performed in the town’s plush cinema buildings.

Although many miners’ music groups in the region have declined with the loss of the industry they grew up around, the Ashington choir is still going strong with around 30 members.

The choir will be marking its centenary year with a special concert in May, performing with local soprano Susan Robertson and singer/songwriter Anna Corcoran. For choir member Stuart Reid, 52, singing in the choir is something of a family tradition — he’s following in the footsteps of his late father, also a keen singer and choir member.

A picture of the Ashington male voice choir taken in 1919

Stuart, an engineer who lives in the nearby village of Stakeford, helps to manages the choir’s archive, which offers a fascinating glimpse into its 100-year history.

When it was set up, the choir was largely composed of Ashington residents, but it was expanded to include Morpeth and the surrounding district as member numbers dwindled.

This and the many other changes the group has seen over the years are carefully recorded in the pictures, notes and concert programmes that have been preserved in the archive. The oldest image in the collection dates back as far as 1919.

For Stuart, the choir and its archive provide a touching link to his father.

He said: “My father sang in the choir for some years, and I vividly remember them singing at his funeral.

“I’ve got some of the old photos that have him in, and we’ve got hundreds of old pieces of music and one of the first ones I picked up had his name on.”

Although the very few choir members now have any personal connection to mining, chairman Bob Brind explained that the group’s heritage and the connection with the industry will never be forgotten by members.

He said: “That element of the history is important to us, we sing every year at the Miners’ Picnic. We have a lot of history and links to the industry.

“A lot of the songs we sing go back a long way — some of our music is still marked with prices in shillings and pence.

“The year the choir was set up, 1916, was also the year of the Woodhorn disaster [in which 13 men were killed in a mining accident], so we’re including a tribute to the men who died then in our centenary concert.”

“We have a very strong sense of community,” Bob said. “We have about two concerts a year which we promote and try to make some money from to cover our costs, but most of the rest of our singing is for the community. Lots of the events we do are for charity.”

In their centenary year, choir members are keen to recruit new voices — everyone is welcome and no audition is required.

Stuart said: “The more the merrier — I think sometimes people are scared when they turn up that it’s going to be like X Factor, that they’ll have to audition.